Miles To Go Before I Sleep
by samanddeans1girl
Summary: Something's wrong with Bobby. Grumpy mood, tired all the time, is it a teenager thing or something deeper?
1. something's wrong

Grace had noticed Bobby had been acting a little off lately. He always seemed to be tired and always in a bad mood, she brought it up to Jack one day and he just said he had went through that phase too, it was just part of growing up. It had turned into a big argument about him never being home enough to notice anything going on in Bobby's life. The three of them were now having a family dinner. Grace noticed how skinny Bobby was and the black bags under his eyes.

" Bobby when was the last night you got a good night sleep?" Grace asked.

"Leave me alone," Bobby muttered.

"Hey!" Jack said in a warning tone.

"What? You're the only one who can argue with her?" he asked grumpily.

"That's me, Bobby, not you. I've it up to here with your attitude," Jack put his hand up in a dramatic gesture.

"I'm not in the mood for this right now," Bobby said getting up and he was about to walk away when Jack snagged his wrist.

"Sit your ass down and finish your meal," He told him.

"I'm not hungry," Bobby said.

"I don't care, you're going to sit here until me and mom are done and we're all going to have a pleasant conversation as a family and if I don't start seeing some respect towards mom and I you're ass is going to be grounded." Jack lectured.

Bobby just pushed his food around on his plate while his brother and mother talked. The only reason he was in a bad mood lately was because he had no sleep, he had no time to sleep or eat between his homework, friends, and worrying about……


	2. Chapter 2

_A week earlier _

"_Bobby, don't forget to go to the Doctor. The appointment is at 3:30, just a check-up. Shouldn't take too long," Grace told Bobby as he rolled his eyes. _

"_Yes, Mom. I know you've only told me about a million times this week," Bobby replied, Grace just chuckled and kissed his head on the way by and headed out the door. _

_Jack came running down the stairs and to the kitchen digging in the fridge for his breakfast. _

_Bobby perked his head up, "Hey, Jack. I have an appointment at the doctors after school, anyway you and Marcus can drop me off on the way to work?" _

_Jack ruffled his hair on the way by, "Sorry, doof. My shift starts immediately after school, we are going to be running late as it is." _

"_That's ok, don't worry about it, I can walk," Bobby declared as he stood up and tossed his backpack over his shoulder wincing as he did so, the mere action tired him out. _

_A car honked, knowing they must be late for Marcus they dashed out the door. _

_**At Doctor's office**_

"_Bobby, come on back," Bobby's favourite nurse, Sherri, called. _

_Bobby was led to a room, his blood pressure was taken and then he was left to wait for the doctor to come in. He always liked Dr. Michael, he could always make Bobby laugh. _

"_Hey there Bobby, long time no see. So what am I seeing you for today?" Dr. Mike asked._

"_Hey, Dr. Mike. Just an ordinary check-up," Bobby told. _

"_Ok, I'm going to have you sit on the bed. Take your shirt off," Dr. Mike explained what he was going to do as he did various things. Such as listening to his heart. _

"_Ok, Bobby. Before I let you go. How'd you get those bruises?" the doctor asked pointing at Bobby's upper body with a pen. _

_Bobby looked down and saw bruises in odd places on his arms and chest. "Oh, I really don't know. They've been showing up randomly for a while now. But you know me, Dr. Mike, always been clumsy," Bobby laughed._

_Dr. Mike nodded not cracking a smile, "Ok, Bobby, I'm going to ask you a few questions and you need to answer me as honestly as you can, ok?"_

_Bobby nodded, a bit worried. _

"_Have you been feeling tired or weak lately?" he asked._

_Bobby thought long and hard. He remembered this morning with his backpack and how much it hurt just to lift it. And he had been caught falling asleep in class lately. _

"_Yes, but I just thought being tired came with being a teenager," Bobby said nervously. _

_The doctor nodded and jotted something down in his file. _

"_Ok, have you been losing weight at all?" the doctor asked._

_Bobby remembered weighing himself on Warren's scale the other day and realizing the last time he weighed, he had been fifteen pounds heavier. Bobby nodded. _

"_Ok, Bobby. I'm going to send you to get some blood work done," the doctor told him._

"_Why? What do you think is wrong with me?" Bobby asked nervously._

"_How about we have you come in early next week with your mother and I will explain everything to you," Dr. Michael said._

"_Dr. Mike, I'm practically an adult now. I can handle it. My mom doesn't need to know. Doctor/Patient confidentiality right?" Bobby asked._

"_Ok, but Bobby this is just my suspicion. I don't know anything yet. All the symptoms you are displaying the bruises, the tiredness and the weight loss are signs of leukemia," Bobby looked at the Doctor in shock._

"_Ok, well if I have leukemia, what happens?" he needed to know all the details before making a decision. _

"_Ok, well if the blood tests come back and you have a high count of white blood cells. We will have to do a biopsy but remember this is all hypothetical because we are not sure you have it. Then depending how bad it is, we will do chemo and hope you respond to it," the doctor explained. _

_Bobby willed the tears away, "What happens if I don't respond to it?"_

_The doctor sighed, "Well then we will have to look for a bone marrow that matches yours, could be anybody but the most likely will be someone in your family."_

_Bobby took a moment to process it all, "Ok, so you said it's possible that I don't have cancer right? You said that we need to start with a blood test?" Bobby jumped up and clapped his hands together, "So where would I go for that?" _

_The doctor directed him and told him he would call him when he got the results to set an appointment. Bobby thought quickly he didn't want his mom or brother to worry about nothing. "Can you actually call this number and leave a message there? No sense worrying my family until there really is something to worry about." He gave the doctor, Warren's number and then was on his way._

_He got all the way to the bathroom and locked the door before he let the tears fall. Grabbing his inhaler, he took a few puffs. He thought why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?_

_His family would be so worried. His mother would fall apart, he knew it now. Jack would try to stay strong and be the man of the house as he always did. Bobby didn't want to burden them with this. _

_So he decided then and there, he didn't care what it took. He would push them away make it easier on everyone. He quickly wiped his tears and washed his face then left the room. _


	3. Chapter 3

Present Day

Everyone continued to eat their dinner in silence. Jack was angry that Bobby was being such a brat. Grace was in shock at the way Jack had called Bobby out, it had never happened before but then again there had never been a need to. Bobby was moving his potatoes around with his fork, his plan to push his family away was working. The fact the plan was working out was good, however the effort of fighting just drained the little energy he had, he was now exhausted. He knew the tests were coming in tomorrow, he was so nervous and he wished he had told his mom and brother what was going on because he had so many thoughts to express. But that would be selfish and he didn't want to burden his family.

That night he was lying in his bed when Jack came in the room and started changing.

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked.

"To a party with Courtney and Marcus," Jack replied.

"Can I come?" Bobby asked timidly. He knew it would be the perfect way to get his mind off of the test results.

"Absolutely not. Do you know what kind of reputation I'm starting to get letting you come to these parties with me? Not to mention with your attitude lately, I'd really rather have nothing to do with you," Jack said the stinging words and left the room, not noticing the tears that started to fall down Bobby's face.

Later that night, Bobby knew he needed a distraction and his mom was always up to the task. So he went downstairs to get his Mom, "Hey, Mom, Mom! Do you want to go out to the museum with me?" he yelled when he smelled something familiar coming from his mother's office.

His mom's head popped out of the crack of her office door, "Now's not a good time, honey! -Haha, stop that tickles!"

Bobby could put two and two together, his mom was with the Teacher's assistant and she was also doing pot. Two things she had promised Bobby she was done with.

He left the house without another word. He travelled down the street thinking of everything that had happened this past week. He hadn't told Grace or Jack about the possibility of leukemia because he wanted to protect them from being hurt by it but really now that he thinks about it, they probably wouldn't even care. Jack has his own life with his own friends and he's made it very clear that Bobby doesn't have a part in it. His mother was the one person who was always there for him, always told him the truth and had been his best friend. But that whole image was ruined for him last year when Jack let out the truth about all the lies she had told.

When he finally got to the park, he collapsed in an abandoned part of the park sobbing. He couldn't do this alone, if he had leukemia which he was pretty sure he did, he didn't want to do it alone. But what he had was a brother that only put up with him because he had to and a pot-smoking, student banging mother who didn't have the time of day for him anymore.

He loved them with all his heart, he really did but he was scared that if he told them, they would just turn their back on him. So he called the one person who seemed to always know what to say and do.


End file.
